The growth of system connectivity has been one of the major developments in recent years. Fewer and fewer systems are operating as stand-alone boxes, and most of today's systems are increasingly becoming elements of complex networks. This growth in networking allows improved performance and increased flexibility. Various wired and/or wireless based communication standards have been developed to enable providing ever expanding system connectivity. The growth of system connectivity has also spurred a growth in applications that takes advantage of the benefits offered by the improved system connectivity, especially having access to entities that provided improved processing and/or storage capabilities.
Communication end-point devices, which comprise portable and/or stationary, may comprise a plurality of wireless technologies to enable use of various interfaces in transmitting and/or receiving data. For example, mobile devices, which may enable cellular connectivity, have become a near absolute necessity in today's world. While mobile technology originally evolved from traditional land-based communication technologies, and was merely intended to add an element of mobility to the traditional telephony service, this technology has grown beyond that initial purpose. Many modern mobile technologies, including such technologies as GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS, and CDMA2000, LTE, incorporate substantial data capabilities. Most of today's mobile services comprise such features as text messaging, audio/video streaming, and web browsing. Modern mobile devices, for example cell phones and/or smart phones, are utilized to support additional services via other wireless interfaces, for example, wireless personal area networks (WPAN) and/or wireless local area network (WLAN) interfaces.
The use of wireless personal area networks (WPAN) continues to gain popularity in a great number of applications because of the flexibility and convenience in connectivity they provide. WPAN systems generally replace cumbersome cabling and/or wiring used to connect peripheral devices and/or mobile terminals by providing short distance wireless links that allow connectivity within very narrow spatial limits (typically, a 10-meter range). WPAN is based on standardized technologies; for example Class 2 Bluetooth (BT) technology.
While WPAN is very beneficial for certain applications, other applications may require larger service areas and/or capabilities. To satisfy such needs, other technologies have been developed to provide greater wireless service. Wireless local area networks (WLAN) systems may operate within a 100-meter range, for example. In contrast to the WPAN systems, WLAN provide connectivity to devices that are located within a slightly larger geographical area, such as the area covered by a building or a campus, for example. WLAN systems are generally based on specific standards, for example IEEE 802.11 standard specifications, and typically operate within a 100-meter range, and are generally utilized to supplement the communication capacity provided by traditional wired Local Area Networks (LANs) installed in the same geographic area as the WLAN system.
Some WLAN systems are operated in conjunction with WPAN systems to provide users with an enhanced overall functionality. For example, Bluetooth technology is utilized to connect a laptop computer or a handheld wireless terminal to a peripheral device, such as a keyboard, mouse, headphone, and/or printer, while the laptop computer or the handheld wireless terminal is also connected to a campus-wide WLAN network through an access point (AP) located within the building. Also, mobile technology may allow use of the mobile phone as a form of wireless modem that allows connecting a laptop, for example, to the internet via a mobile network. More recently, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) based systems have become popular, and use of WiMAX to provide wireless connectivity is expanding.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.